Besides traditional shoelaces, there have been inventions concerned with fastening footwear by various means.
One of this alternative shoe fastening device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,589 to Kliewer. Where a product whose main frame consists of a circular o-ring, reinforced rubber band, while the main frame of the invention described herein comprises an elastic filiform frame, with a groove along its underside, which makes the material more flexible and compressible to avoid crumples on its application and to facilitate threading the frame into the eyelets. The device of this invention comprises a needle-like protrusion on one of its ends to make it easier to thread the frame into the eyelet. Immediately after the needle-like protrusion, this device comprises a ring, which is part of the main frame and which is fastened to the clamping part assembled to the other end of the frame to provide the grasp and tension necessary for closure. The main frame has a slot that allows hiding the needle-like protrusion after both ends of the main frame have been fastened. The patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,589 to Kliewer does not comprise any method to facilitate its threading into the eyelets, nor does it have any special feature to preserve the original shape of the product.
The patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,589 to Kliewer comprises two independent parts while the invention described herein is a one-piece element—an inseparable unit—although an alternative device with interchangeable clamping parts can be commercialized, which is distinct from the double sided clip hook that is the basis of the Kliewer patent.
Unlike the patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,589 to Kliewer, this invention is a closure system, consisting of different continuous and discontinuous links that assemble the independent sections of the basic configuration, completely changing footwear and providing the possibility to manipulate all the independent sections as a whole unit.
Unlike the identification tags mentioned in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,589 to Kliewer, the fantasy ornaments of this invention can not only be applied to an eyelet pair, but also integrate one, two or several independent sections; thanks to the unlimited possibilities of these ornaments, they are not limited to the user's identification, but provide the possibility to decorate the footwear and pieces of clothing to which they are applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,350 to Diebold describes a lace tensioning device. The invention disclosed herein describes a way to completely avoid the use of shoelaces in any form.
Several Patents have previously addressed footwear fastening in the last century, but none of the prior art has solved this issue in the same way that is described herein.